


Fading Stars

by Julia_Skysong



Series: Season 12 Finale AU [1]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Dimension, Bittersweet Ending, Emotional Rollercoaster, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Thirteen finally gets the hug she deserves, alternate season 12 finale, parallel worlds, post the haunting of villa diodati, pre ascension of the cybermen, sometimes you just need to cry it out, the lone cyberman, while being comforted by your immortal friend and ex girlfriend and dead wife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julia_Skysong/pseuds/Julia_Skysong
Summary: When the TARDIS has trouble following the coordinates left by the Lone Cyberman, the Doctor and Fam encounter Ruth, and together they set off to unravel the mystery and stop the Cyberman from creating a new empire. But their answers bring more questions, and Jack Harkness isn't the only unexpected friend they find. Even with the extra help, it will take everything in them to stop the Master from spreading chaos throughout the universe.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Everyone, Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Thirteenth Doctor/River Song, Thirteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Season 12 Finale AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2077596
Comments: 24
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *sigh* I never write fanfictions for seasons that are still in progress. But Chibnall has given me SO MUCH HOPE for my Very Specific Desire and even though I know the finale will be amazing, I also need the ending that I want. And I want to write it down before the finale destroys me (because it will destroy me either way). So this is based on season 12 right up until The Haunting of Villa Diodati, fan theories that I have obsessessed over on Tumblr, and my own personal head-canons. Major spoilers for season 12 except for the finale. Also, major feels ahead. Enter at your own risk.

The TARDIS, as usual, was being difficult. The Doctor stretched as far as she could reach across the console as it thrashed around space and time. Ryan, Yaz, and Graham clung unsteadily to the stairs. 

“Is this supposed to happen?” Graham yelled. 

“Not normally!” the Doctor yelled back, frantically pushing buttons. “One thing’s for sure, she really doesn’t like where we’re going. Someone come and hold this clamp for me!” 

Ryan stumbled over to the console and held on tight. She hurried around to the other side and messed with some gauges. 

“C’mon, it’s not like we’re going to my grave,” she grumbled. “I haven’t seen her like this in ages.” 

“Does that mean it’s bad?” Yaz asked as the TARDIS nearly threw them sideways. 

“Bigger than bad, a whole planet of bad. Maybe even a solar system of bad.” 

“That’s a lot of bad,” Ryan said through gritted teeth.

The Doctor glared at the TARDIS and wagged a finger crossly. “You wouldn’t behave like this if River were here!” 

“Who?” Yaz asked. 

“My wife.” 

She fell across the console and slammed a button hurriedly. 

“Your what?” Graham stuttered. 

“I didn’t know you were married!” Yaz frowned. 

“Only sometimes!” she said defensively. 

“You’ve never mentioned her before,” Yaz said. 

“She’s also dead. Sort of.” 

“Once again, more questions than answers, Doc,” Graham said. 

“Explain later. Ryan, let go of the clamp.”

Ryan released his grip and the TARDIS shuddered to a halt. The four of them struggled to catch their breaths for a moment, listening to the odd quiet. 

“No screaming, that’s always a good sign,” the Doctor said quietly. 

“Unless everyone’s dead,” Ryan swallowed. 

“Thanks, Ryan,” she sighed sarcastically. 

“Is everything going to be different now that we gave him the Siberian thingy?” Graham asked. 

“Cyber-ium,” she corrected. “Possibly. But probably not if he’s only just traveled here. Unless of course he didn’t travel directly here and stopped a few years early. Then everything will be on fire. So maybe, yes.” 

“Where are we, exactly?” Yaz asked. 

“London, 1851. Something familiar about that date...can’t quite put my finger on it. I’m sure it’s nothing important. I’ll remember it eventually.” She stared at the door in trepidation, not yet moving. “You sure you don’t want to be dropped back at home for this?” 

“We’re staying with you,” Yaz said firmly. 

“Yeah, there’s no way we’re letting you face this by yourself,” Ryan said. “Like you said, it’s a whole solar system full of bad. Four is better than one, right?” 

Slowly, the Doctor nodded, inhaling deeply in preparation. She had no idea what horrors could lay beyond that door, but she couldn’t ignore it forever. After all, she had created whatever mess was waiting for them and…

A sharp knock startled them. So much for stalling. 

Cautiously, she opened the door to find Ruth, also slightly out of breath. 

“You have trouble landing too?” she asked. 

Thirteen blinked. “What are you doing here?” 

“Same as you, I expect. Got a message for help.” 

She fished in her pockets and pulled out her psychic paper. Words started flashing across it in panicked handwriting: “DOCTOR WHAT THE HELL??? GET YOUR SEXY ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW AND HELP GET US OUT OF THIS MESS BEFORE THINGS FALL EVEN FURTHER APART!! -JH.” 

“Ah, good old Captain Jack,” Thirteen said, grinning worriedly. “Good to know we’ll have backup. Angry backup, but still. Help is help. And you’re here, even though the TARDIS didn’t like it, so I suppose that’s good.” 

“Something tells me having two TARDISes in the same location isn’t the only reason for the trouble,” Ruth said, scanning the surrounding area darkly. 

They were in a secluded alley near the banks of the Thames, where the locals mingled blissfully unaware of any impending danger. Nothing was on fire yet, which seemed hopeful. Thirteen was about to remark on this encouraging factor when a shrill scream interrupted the quiet spring morning. 

“I think that would be a good place to start looking for this captain of yours,” Ruth said. 

“Knowing Jack, probably,” Thirteen agreed. 

They raced into the open, fighting the now fleeing crowds. Near a bridge crossing the river, a young man had fallen to the ground, eyes staring unblinkingly at the sky. Thirteen and Ruth knelt by his side immediately. 

“Don’t bother,” a familiar voice interrupted. “He’s already dead and I know what killed him.” 

“Jack!” Thirteen grinned in spite of herself. 

“Seriously, you had ONE job,” Jack said, helping her to her feet. “Why’d you have to give it to him?” 

“To be fair, he was about to rip the earth in two,” Thirteen winced. 

“Supposedly,” Yaz muttered. “Still think he was bluffing.” 

“Glad to know someone trusted me.” 

“Well you weren’t there to explain it to me were you? I didn’t have all the details!” 

“Some things never change with you, do they?” Jack sighed. He grinned suddenly, stepping forward and embracing her. “It’s good to see you again, Doctor.” 

“Missed you, too,” Thirteen chuckled quietly.

“I hate to interrupt the reunion,” Ryan said, “but I just found our raging Cyberman friend.” 

Thirteen followed his gaze down the main road, which opened into a large marketplace. At the well in the center, the lone Cyberman was threatening a young girl with fiery red hair. Ruth instantly charged toward them. 

“Hey Doc, I think I should let you know something,” Jack said as they ran. 

“Not now, Jack,” Thirteen said, keeping her eye on the girl. 

“You might need a heads up though…” 

“I’ll just improvise, I’m good at that. OI! Rusty!” she shouted. “Keep away from her!” 

The Cyberman turned and sneered at her approach. The girl took the opportunity to pull a small round device from her pocket and press it urgently. Jack motioned to her to keep quiet and calm. There was something incredibly familiar about her, but again there was no time to figure out what.

“Doctor,” he snarled, keeping his gun fixed on the girl. “It is good that you are here. I require your assistance.” 

“Let the girl go first,” Ruth demanded. 

“You already got your Cyber-ium,” Thirteen added. “What else do you need?” 

“The Cyber-ium has been corrupted,” the Cyberman seethed. “A new element is required to fulfill it.” 

“And what would that be, exactly?” 

“Information,” he barked. “Information which the girl possesses.” 

“I won’t give it to you,” the girl spat. 

“But perhaps you will,” the Cyberman continued, staring into the Doctor’s soul with his one human eye. “Since you were the one who corrupted the files.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Thirteen said. “I didn’t do anything with it, I barely had time to look at it.” 

“What are you looking for anyway?” Ryan asked. “This era’s not exactly bursting with that kind of tech.” 

The Cyberman, strangely, began laughing; a cruel, grating sound that echoed in the now empty market. The girl suddenly gasped, looking around in dawning horror. 

“Why are you laughing?” Ruth asked sharply. 

“Because the answer is all around us,” the girl whispered. 

“What is?” Yaz asked, looking around. 

“All I see is an empty market,” Thirteen said, looking at the Cyberman quizzically. 

“Look closer,” he said, smirking maliciously.

“Oh no,” Jack said, paling. “See, this is where the heads up would have come in handy.” 

“I don’t see it,” Thirteen said, baffled. 

“The posters, Doctor,” Jack said quietly. “Look at the posters.” 

She supposed there were a lot of flyers hanging around, perhaps more than usual of the mid-1800s, but nothing out of the ordinary. People were always advertising plays and help-wanted ads and…oh. Thirteen felt her heart sink and all the breath leave her body at once. 

Bad Wolf. 

It was everywhere, on every scrap of paper, newspaper, flyer, and the like. She turned to look at Jack, eyes wide. 

“What’s going on?” she asked, voice shaking. 

A slow round of applause echoed through the courtyard, and a chill ran down Thirteen’s spine. She looked up and saw the Master approaching them. 

“Not you again,” Ruth groaned. 

“You gotta admit, that was pretty clever, getting you both here at the same time,” the Master grinned. 

“So I take it you’re the one behind all this?” Ruth asked. 

“Not completely,” he admitted. “We’re just in a...symbiotic relationship at the moment.” 

“Oh, like you and the Kassavin?” Yaz asked pointedly. 

“I learned my lesson from that one,” he said quickly. “No, this partnership will go on for quite some time if all goes well.” 

“Alright, somebody catch me up here,” Jack interrupted. “Who’s pretty boy supposed to be?” 

“The Master,” Graham said. “We don’t know much about him, but…”

“Well, I do,” Jack sighed. “Figures we’d have to deal with him here, too.” 

“There’s six of us versus two of them,” Ryan whispered. “We could take ‘em...” 

“Aww, nice try, Ryan,” the Master said patronizingly. “But I’m afraid it’s going to be a bit more complicated than that.” 

He flicked his wrist, and everyone collapsed, simultaneously blacking out.

…

They awoke an indeterminate amount of time later, handcuffed to a wall in an abandoned factory of some sort. The Master and the Cyberman were nowhere to be seen. 

“Well that could have gone better,” Graham said. 

“Ya think?” Yaz said. 

Thirteen strained against the high-tech cuffs, which had been positioned above their heads to wear them out. “What is it with people tying me up lately?” she groaned. 

“I gotta say, it is a nice look for you,” Jack teased from her right. 

“Shut up, Jack.” 

“Doctor,” Ryan called from near the end. “We’ve got company.” 

He nodded to his right, where the red-head girl also was under lock and key. She smiled at them nervously. 

“Hallo,” Thirteen called, trying to be cheerful. “What’s your name?” 

“Donna,” she said. 

“Donna,” Thirteen repeated. “Good name, that. My best friend was named Donna once. Well, she was always called Donna I suppose. Have we met before? You seem familiar.” 

Donna shook her head, eyeing the room suspiciously.

“Better question,” Ruth said, “Why aren’t you wearing period clothing?” 

“I can’t say that,” she said quietly. “They might be listening.” 

“Is that part of the information they want?” Yaz asked. 

Donna nodded again. “It could be. I’m afraid anything I say might accidentally give it away.” 

Thirteen exhaled slowly and leaned against the wall. “About that...anything else I need a heads up about, Jack?” 

“It’s too late,” Jack said. “Ginger here has a point. They want us to talk and betray our secrets.” 

“She just said her name was Donna,” Ryan frowned. 

“Yeah, but it doesn’t roll off the tongue as easy,” he said. 

“Don’t you dare flirt with her,” Thirteen snapped. “She’s what, 13?” 

“I’m 16!” Donna protested. 

“Still a bit fuzzy on kids’ ages, sorry. Either way, too young.” 

“I wasn’t flirting,” Jack insisted. “I just...there’s only ever been one Donna in my mind. It’s strange to use her name with someone else.” 

Thirteen softened. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “I know.” 

Donna looked like she was about to say something, then firmly clamped her mouth shut and leaned against the wall. 

“You sent your message to the wrong Doctor, by the way,” Thirteen continued. “It went to Ruth instead.” 

“Did not appreciate the sexy ass comment,” Ruth said dryly. 

“I was in the middle of something when I sent it,” Jack said defensively. “Do you know how difficult it is to send a psychic message while trying to track down a Cyberman on a rampage?” 

“Is that why you had trouble finding the Doc originally?” Graham asked. 

“Exactly,” Jack nodded towards him appreciatively. “It wasn’t just the Judoon’s shields that messed it up. Even with the chameleon circuit hiding your true DNA, it was scrambling the signals. As usual, bigger things were at play than anyone realized.” He looked pointedly at Thirteen. 

“Bigger than a solar system of bad?” she asked warily. 

“Much bigger.” 

“ENOUGH GAMES!” The Master yelled cheerfully as he pushed open the doors. The Cyberman stomped in behind him. “We need answers, and I don’t care which Doctor gives them to me.“ He pointed at Jack. “Let’s start by threatening you, since you’ve only just been joyfully reunited.” 

The Cyberman pointed his gun at Jack. “Where is the Bad Wolf?” he demanded, looking at the Doctor. 

“I won’t tell you,” she said firmly. 

“Seriously?” Jack whispered.

“He will be executed.” 

Thirteen swallowed painfully. “Then so be it.” 

“No!” Yaz cried. 

There was a high-pitched whine as the weapon charged. Jack shifted suddenly.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you,” he said urgently. “She’s...behind you.”

“What?” Thirteen asked, turning to look at him.

The Master whirled around, coattails spinning behind him, and examined the empty room. “Lies!” he exclaimed, turning back to face them. 

“DELETE,” the Cyberman yelled angrily. 

The blast hit Jack before either he or the Doctor could say a word. The others gasped in shock. Thirteen shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Right. Well at this point I should tell you that shooting us is basically worthless, since none of us can actually die.”

The Master sighed. “What?” he said irritated. 

“Impossible,” the Cyberman added. 

“Nope. Two of us are Time Lords and will regenerate, Ryan is actually plastic, Yaz jumped into my time vortex and is one of a million versions of herself, Graham has been implanted with alien tech that will continue to heal him forever, and Jack is eternally resurrected by the time vortex every time he dies, so we’re basically all immortals.” 

“What about the girl?” the Master asked. 

“Ah yes, Donna. Donna’s new. She just started traveling with us so I forget about her when I’m listing off the group. Sorry, Donna, I’ll remember eventually, but anyway Donna...is actually from...the Library, and is living as a data ghost and really is only a very realistic looking hologram.”

“You’re lying,” the Master said, studying her carefully.

“First of all, I said that way too quickly to be lying. Even a fast thinker couldn’t come up with four brilliant lies like that on a moment’s notice. I was there, I watched it happen. And secondly, this one won’t be dead in three, two, one...”

Jack inhaled sharply and sat up straighter, bringing another startled gasp from the Fam and Ruth. “Remind me never to die in handcuffs again,” he groaned. “Coming back is very uncomfortable.”

“See?” the Doctor said. “Not lying.” 

“Well then,” the Master said, looking more like an exhausted parent trying to convince their toddler to take a bath than an evil mastermind trying to take over the world. “In that case, we’ll have to find someone else to threaten. Some innocent bystander, you do love those.” 

“What information are you even after?” Ruth asked. 

“Information: Bad Wolf,” the Cyberman rasped. “The Bad Wolf is the link between worlds. Only there can the Cyber-ium be restored.” 

“Hang on, between worlds?” Ryan asked. “Like parallel worlds or other dimensions?”

“Yeah,” Thirteen seethed. “So you’re telling me you want the Bad Wolf to open the Void and cross into another dimension?” 

“Just to fix his equipment,” the Master said sweetly.

“Yeah well I got news for you, buddy,” she snapped. “You’re stuck in this world, and she’s stuck in another one. And she didn’t open the Void. She just got stuck on the wrong side. Twice.”

“Negative,” the Cyberman shot back. “Additional facts say otherwise.” 

“Ok, yeah, she stared into the time vortex one time. Emphasis on ONE. Maybe she had that power but that was years ago, so even if she was here she wouldn’t be able to open any portals. Also, doubt she would risk tearing open the fabric of space and time for you anyway. And,” she continued, raising her voice and leaning as far forward as her shackles would allow, “AND, if she were here I would NEVER reveal her location, not even if I were on my last regeneration cycle and you were threatening to kill me, because no one, NO ONE messes with Rose Tyler and gets away with it, alright?!?”

“The Void has been opened before, and it will open again!” the Cyberman said.

“Oh, you don’t know anything,” she spat. “You can’t get to her, nobody can. I was there when she was pulled into the other world. I was there when the walls closed forever. I was there when it all fell apart and she came back. I was there when I left her on a beach in Norway and was forced to close up the walls AGAIN. The Void was crossed, but that was years ago. But that was then, not now.” Her eyes were on fire now, flint sparking against steel. “I don’t care how long you’ve spent trying, NOTHING compares to how many nights I spent searching for ANY way to get her back, following every lead and clue and hope of just seeing her again. I know you can’t cross over because I’VE TRIED.”

The echoes of her rant faded into the empty factory, leaving only stunned silence in its place. Thirteen sank against the wall, blinking away tears as she glared daggers at the Master. Donna was staring at her wide-eyed.

“While I applaud your enthusiasm,” Ruth said slowly, “will someone please tell me what the Bad Wolf is?” 

The Master stared at her in confusion. “You mean you don’t know? I specifically chose this because it’s in your past.” 

“Aha!” Graham cried triumphantly. “So now we know you ARE in our Doc’s past.”

“Still doesn’t explain why she doesn't remember Ruth though,” Yaz said. 

“WILL EVERYONE PLEASE SHUT UP!!” Jack yelled. “I promise, there is a very reasonable explanation for all this, because there always is. Arguing about it in circles will not solve…”

“Scan complete,” the Cyberman interrupted. “No evidence of plastic or alien technology, all organic matter. Three humans, two Gallifreyans, one unknown, one quarter Time Lord.” 

“Ah, so you did lie,” the Master said. 

“Everything I said was true,” Thirteen said, still breathing raggedly. “And not to mention…” She paused suddenly. “Hang on, did you say, quarter-Time Lord?” 

“Kill the old man,” the Master said, ignoring her. 

“No, no, wait!” Thirteen said. “Head. Doing a lot of thinking. Give me a sec.” She turned and looked down the row at Donna, who was sitting very, very still against the wall. “Donna…” she said slowly, “the familiar strange girl in modern clothes who didn’t so much as bat an eye when Jack came back to life. What’s your last name?” 

The girl swallowed. “Tyler. Donna Tyler,” she said quietly. 

“Heads up number two,” Jack said under his breath. 

A blast echoed down the hall, sending vibrations through the concrete. The Cyberman turned and tried to fire its own gun, but it sputtered uselessly. The handcuffs on the wall suddenly released, freeing the prisoners. 

“Intruder alert, weapons malfunctioning,” the Cyberman said. 

“Damn you!” the Master said, hurrying over to the lone Cyberman. 

Rose Tyler stepped into the room, holding some sort of giant metal weapon and looking as determined as the Doctor had ever seen her. Behind her followed the Metacrisis, biting casually into a doughnut and carrying a dozen more.

“She’s right you know,” she said as the weapon charged for another blast. “You don’t want to mess with the big Bad Wolf. ESPECIALLY if you separate her from kids.” 

Another blast reverberated around them, and the Cyberman and Master disappeared in a flash. Donna ran over to her and hugged her tightly. 

“It’s about time,” Jack said, helping a dumbfounded Thirteen to her feet. “Five minutes earlier and you would have made one hell of an entrance.” 

“Sorry,” Rose said, quickly wolfing half a doughnut down. “We ran out of doughnuts.” 

“We were being held captive by a Cyberman and your main concern was doughnuts?” Ryan asked. 

“Shh, don’t complain about it,” Graham said, grabbing one for himself when Ten held the box out to him. 

“Dimension-hopping does terrible things to your blood sugar,” Ten explained. “These are the fastest way to get it back up again.” 

Rose scanned the room of confused time travelers. “Right, two Doctors then. That’ll make it interesting. But,” she broke into a large smile upon seeing Thirteen, “this one’s mine.” She immediately stepped forward and hugged Thirteen, who was still in absolute shock. “And before you ask,” Rose added, “Yes, I’m real and no, you’re not dreaming.” 

With a shuddering gasp, Thirteen leaned into her and held on tight, fighting back tears. 

“It’s alright, I got you,” Rose whispered. 

“Jack,” Thirteen managed, not letting go. “Next time something like this happens, TELL ME. No matter what’s going on.” 

“Yes ma’am,” Jack smiled. 

“We need to borrow a TARDIS,” Ten said, licking the remains of the doughnut from his fingers. “Anyone know where the nearest one is? Doesn’t matter who it belongs to.” 

“Sorry, who are you?” Ryan asked. 

“Ah yes. I’m the Doctor, pleased to meet you,” he grinned. 

“Seriously?” Ruth exclaimed. “Three of us?” 

“I know,” Jack grinned. 

“C’mon,” Rose said, grabbing Thirteen’s hand and pulling them along. “I know you have questions but we need to get somewhere safe first.” 

“Follow me then,” Ruth said. “You better have a good explanation for all this.” 

“Are these alien guns?” Yaz asked as they filed through the hall.

“Low level EMPs,” Donna explained, seeming much more relaxed and animated than she’d been before. “An Electromagnetic Pulse that pretty much fries any technology nearby. Apparently it wasn’t strong enough if it didn’t knock out the teleport system. We’ll crank it up a notch next time. I had one but when I got separated on the last dimension jump I lost it. Then my teleporter failed and I got stuck.” 

“You...you have a daughter,” Thirteen stammered. 

“Two more at home,” Rose grinned. “But they’re younger so we decided to leave them with mum and dad for this trip.” 

They reached the TARDIS and quickly filed inside. Rose sat Thirteen down on the steps. 

“Someone want to fetch us some tea?” she asked. 

“On it,” Yaz said. 

“In the meantime, have a doughnut,” Ten said cheerily, passing around the box. 

“So are we going to do introductions or what?” Ryan asked. 

“Good idea,” Ten said. “Who are you?” 

“Erm, Ryan. I’m with that Doctor.” 

“They’re all with her,” Ruth said. “I don’t have anybody traveling with me currently. I suppose to avoid confusion you can call me Ruth, since that’s what everyone’s been calling me for the last few years.” 

“Chameleon circuit?” he asked. 

“Yes. How did you know?” 

“Did that once myself. Plus it explains how the two of you didn’t run into each other sooner.” 

“So you do know why there are two of us?”

“Yup.” 

“Not gonna tell us?” 

“Not yet. Bit much right now.” He nodded at Thirteen, who still looked pale and shaky. 

“Fair enough. So why don’t you tell us how you three fit in?” 

“I’m a human-Time Lord Metacrisis generated from an earlier regeneration of her,” he explained. “Obviously since there can’t be two Doctors in one universe, she, well he at the time, sent me and Rose off to the same parallel world that we’d already visited before.” 

“So you’re the Bad Wolf,” Graham said. “The one the Doc was yelling about before?” 

“The one and only,” Rose smiled. “And you are?” 

“Graham. I’m Ryan’s grandad.” 

“And I’m Yaz,” she said, bringing in the tea. She handed a cup to Thirteen, who took it gratefully. 

“And I think everyone’s met me already,” Jack said. 

“You did leave quite the impression,” Graham said. 

“Always do,” Jack said, winking at him. 

“Ok, why do I feel like I missed something?” Ryan asked. 

“It’s really not that important,” Graham said quickly. 

“How are you here?” Thirteen asked suddenly. “You’re not supposed to be here.” 

“The fabric between the different dimensions are tearing at the seams,” Rose said. “Almost literally. People are falling through the cracks and bleeding into other universes without realizing it. And there aren’t enough Time Lords around to fix it.” 

“But why? That’s not supposed to be possible.” 

“Ever heard of the Kassavin?” Ten asked. 

“Yeah. Nasty bunch,” Yaz said. “Don’t really know a lot about them though, except that they come from a place we could never understand.” 

“They’re creatures from the Void, the empty spaces between the dimensions,” Ten explained. “Nothing is supposed to be able to exist in the Void. It’s meant to keep parallel worlds separate and safe from each other. But somehow, they evolved to survive. They’re not just from the Void, they ARE the Void.” 

“And every time they leave, the Void grows smaller, and the gaps between the universes widen. At this point, it’s basically nonexistent,” Rose finished. “It’s causing chaos everywhere they go.”

“How long has this been happening?” Thirteen asked. 

“It’s been gradual, but it’s gotten worse in the last two years,” Rose said. “We only noticed a few months ago, when we ran into another Time Lord. For some reason, they seem more vulnerable to falling through.” 

“Oh!” Thirteen cried. “Thought incoming. Oh. Oh! The Master...That’s why he’s changed so much since the last time I saw him...her. He’s not even the same Time Lord as Missy, he was from a different version altogether!” 

“Most likely,” Ten nodded. 

“Is that why there’s two of us?” Ruth asked. “We’re the same, but we’re different because we’re from different worlds.” 

“That makes sense!” Thirteen said enthusiastically, jumping up. “Great! Ok, mystery solved then. We just need to figure out what universe you’re from, return you, and close up the Void again. Simple. Easy.” 

“Not...quite,” Rose said slowly. “This is Ruth’s dimension.” 

“What?” Thirteen frowned. “So, you’re saying we’re the ones that fell through?” 

“That can’t be right,” Yaz said. “I just called my mum yesterday. I don’t think that would work if we had all gone through.” 

“No,” Ten agreed. “It wouldn’t.” 

Thirteen looked at Yaz, Ryan and Graham for a moment, then slowly turned back to Rose. 

“No,” she breathed. 

“I’m so sorry,” Rose said quietly. 

“No. It can’t be.” 

“We’ve double checked everything,” Jack said. “I fell through too.” 

“I would have noticed,” Thirteen said firmly.

“Oh,” Ruth realized. “Not if it was when you were regenerating.” 

“But that was two years ago. I think I would have noticed SINCE then.” 

“Noticed what?” Ryan asked. “Doctor, what are you talking about?” 

“Doctor,” Rose said gently. “You’ve been in the wrong universe since you regenerated. It was just similar enough that you didn’t notice.” 

“What?” Graham exclaimed. 

“You’re wrong,” Thirteen snapped. “It doesn’t make sense.” 

“Then why didn’t they know about Cybermen until now?” Jack asked, nodding at her companions. 

“We just haven’t met any yet on our travels,” she insisted. “That’s normal. Sometimes it’s hundreds of years before I run into them again.” 

“Except for the fact that in 2006 hundreds of Cybermen crossed the Void as ghosts and then materialized into their true form,” Jack said. “And in 2014 all the dead were converted to Cybermen and rose from the grave, literally. For all three of them to miss both events?” 

Thirteen looked at them in desperation. “Please tell me you were doing something important around that time and just didn’t notice, scuba diving or something?”

Yaz swallowed and looked at the ground. “Even if we had, you don’t think we would have heard about it from friends and family?” 

“Stranger things have happened…” she offered hopefully.

“What about Harriet Jones?” Ten interrupted. “Ever heard of her?”

“Should we?” Ryan asked, looking confused.

“Prime Minister during Britain’s Golden Age. Don’t just miss something like that.”

“I’m sorry, Doc,” Graham said. “I think they might be right.” 

Thirteen shook her head. “NO,” she said, gritting her teeth. “There’s gotta be another explanation.” 

Rose walked over to the TARDIS console and punched in some coordinates. “You want more proof? Look.” 

Thirteen drifted over hesitantly, looking at the computer screen. Satellite images showed Rose herself, sitting on a couch in an unfamiliar apartment with Mickey. 

_Location: Rose Tyler.  
London, England.  
Age: 36  
Married to Mickey Smith. _

“In this universe, I never met you,” Rose said softly. “I stayed in London and married Mickey.” 

“No,” Thirteen gasped. She began frantically typing. 

_Location: Martha Jones  
Royal Hope Hospital, London  
Age: 36  
Married to Thomas Milligan_

_Location: Donna Noble  
Chiswick, England  
Age: 43  
Married to Lance Bennett_

“No, no, no…”

_Location: Clara Oswald  
Coal Hill School  
Age: 36  
Married to Danny Pink_

“You can search as many as you want,” Jack said. “They’re not going to be where they’re supposed to be.” 

“Shut it,” Thirteen growled.

_Location: Bill Potts  
Bristol, England  
Age: 29  
Married to Heather Hyam_

_Location: Amy Pond  
Leadworth, England  
Age: 31  
Married to Jeff Angelo. _

“JEFF? She married Jeff?” she cried. “What happened to Rory?” 

_Location: Rory Williams  
Leadworth, England.  
Age: 25, deceased.  
Cause of death: drowning._

“Dead here, too,” she whispered. 

_Location: River Song_

…searching…

…searching…

 _Location unknown. River Song not found._

The comforting yellow glow of the TARDIS crystals darkened to blue as Thirteen stepped backwards in shock. Rose sighed and looked over at Ten. He nodded understandingly, and quietly motioned for the others to step away. They disappeared down one of the long hallways, leaving only Rose and Thirteen. 

“I can’t do it,” Thirteen finally gasped. “I can’t just leave them here…” 

“You can’t stay here, either,” Rose said quietly. 

“Yes I could. It’s a big universe. I rarely run into myself anyway, what’s the difference if it’s a different version?” 

“I think there’s probably a very good reason that you’re purposefully ignoring.” 

Thirteen shook her head and started pacing. “Then we find a new universe for Ruth. She just lost her husband, it’s a great time for a new start, new life, new dimension…”

“I’m sure he’s not her only link to this world.” 

“I’m not ready!” she snapped. 

“You never are.” 

“But this…” She swallowed forcefully, blinking back tears. “This is different. This is permanent. It’s not like leaving them to carry on their lives or their work...I can’t ever come back. Even after I say goodbye and regenerate I always kept an eye on them. I can’t pop round to check in, I can’t make sure they are safe when something terrible happens, I will NEVER know how their stories end, I will NEVER be able to see them again, PLEASE you can’t make me go through this AGAIN!” 

Rose looked at her softly with those big kind eyes, full of compassion. “I’m not making you do anything,” she said gently. “It’s your choice. That’s why it’s so hard.” 

“I barely got through it last time,” she whispered. 

Rose took her into her arms and embraced her. “I know.” 

…

Yaz leaned heavily against the wall, trying to process everything Ruth and the weird Doctor clone had just explained. 

“Well,” Graham sighed with resignation, “I suppose we knew deep down we couldn’t travel with her forever.” 

“There are worse ways it could end, trust me,” Ruth said sorrowfully. “Better to end while you’re ahead of the game.” 

“How are we supposed to go back to normal life now?” Yaz asked. “Quick visits are one thing, but I don’t want to go back to boring everyday stuff.” 

“You find a new purpose,” Jack said. “You grieve a little first, that’s normal. But then you find something you enjoy doing, something interesting, something that helps people. It’ll never be the same, but you’ll find something.” 

“If you wanted,” Ruth said. “I do have a vacancy at the moment and we seem to get along pretty well in the brief time I’ve known you. You could travel with me.” 

“No,” the three of them said at once. 

“No offense,” Yaz said, “but it’s not the same. You’re not _our _Doctor.”__

__“None taken,” Ruth said kindly._ _

__“Wouldn’t be that much different than if you stayed if she regenerated,” Donna said._ _

__“It is though,” Ryan chimed in. “Cause Ruth won’t have the memories of our adventures that our Doctor has.”_ _

__“Right,” Graham agreed. “You may be the same person, but you’re also not. Seems almost disloyal in a way.”_ _

__Ruth smiled. “She’s very lucky to have had you lot as her companions. If something ever comes up, let me know. I’ll be there.”_ _

__The three nodded their appreciation as Rose joined them._ _

__“How is she?” Jack asked._ _

__“Coping, which has never been a strong suit. Don’t you dare leave her alone after this, Jack.”_ _

__“Wouldn’t dream of it. That’s why I came.”_ _

__“I thought you accidentally fell through,” Graham said._ _

__“Eh...not technically.”_ _

__“Look,” Rose interrupted. “You should go say your goodbyes. When we will have to separate back to our respective worlds, it’ll be fast. You might have a bit of time before then, but it’ll be best to take some time now. If everything works, once the Void closes it’ll really be closed for good; fourth time’s the charm.” She took a deep breath and looked intently between Yaz, Ryan, and Graham. “Take it from someone who didn’t get a goodbye beforehand: tell her everything you wanted to say. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”_ _

__The Doctor was sitting silently on the steps when the filed in, eyes red from crying. Ryan and Graham sat on either side of her, while Yaz sat on step below, leaning on her knees. None of them spoke for a long time._ _

__“I’m sorry,” Thirteen whispered at last._ _

__“What are you going apologizing for?” Graham asked. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”_ _

__“Well…” she started._ _

__“Don’t you dare,” Yaz said. “Nothing was ever perfect, but you know what? I wouldn’t have traded any of it for the world.”_ _

__“Me neither,” Ryan agreed. “I mean, I can only speak for myself, but you’ve done a lot of good for us I think. I feel a lot more confident in myself, personally.”_ _

__“Definitely,” Yaz grinned. “Life has a lot more meaning now that we’ve seen what’s out there.”_ _

__“Count me and Grace in that, too,” Graham added. “I don’t think she would have regretted anything either.”_ _

__“What’ll you do now?” she asked sadly._ _

__“Back to the police force,” Yaz said. “But not where I was. I want to transfer, get put on missing person cases. I’ve gotten good at solving puzzles now. I want to find them, help them get somewhere safe, and help restore their confidence in the universe.”_ _

__“That’s very ‘Yaz,’” Thirteen smiled. “What about you, Ryan?”_ _

__“I keep thinking about everything we’ve seen,” he said. “All that trash in the ocean, those creatures on Orphan 55...I want to make a difference. I want to try and stop that from happenin’. I know I’m just one person, but…”_ _

__“Ryan Sinclair,” the Doctor said sincerely, “one person can make all the difference in the world. And you will.” She looked up at Graham expectantly._ _

__“Mine’s not as noble as all that,” Graham admitted. “Get a job so I can pay the bills, travel, keep an eye on these two. I just want to live life to the fullest, without fear. I could do anything I always wanted to do but something stopped me. I could write a book. Or two books. Who knows?”_ _

__“Nothing wrong with that,” Thirteen said. “Just out living life. That is one of the most important things anyone can do. Look at you. Living life. Going out to make the world a better place. You'll be fine.”_ _

__“You know what I’m going to do first though?” Yaz said, eyes shining. “I’m not going back to work straight away. I’m gonna go buy a ton of ice cream and Sonya and I are going to watch a lot of cheesy romance movies.”_ _

__“What, like the cliche breakup routine?” Ryan scoffed._ _

__“Breakups are fine,” Yaz said softly. “It’s what I do when we lose someone on the force.”_ _

__“That sounds like a really good plan,” Thirteen said thickly, purposefully not looking at anyone directly._ _

__“I know you’ve never been good with emotions, Doc,” Graham said. “But it’s ok. We’re family, aren’t we? Maybe we aren’t related, but we’re there for each other, and that’s what family’s supposed to be.”_ _

__Gently, he reached one arm around her shoulders, and it broke her. Crying, she leaned into his shoulder, Ryan leaning on her other side and one arm reaching down to Yaz. They stayed there for a long time, not talking, just being. But it was enough._ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLARIFICATION: Ruth led the way back but they went to Thirteen’s TARDIS since it was closer. This will be important later. 
> 
> Also, in my head I’m imagining Amybeth McNulty as Donna (Anne with an E), just if you’re looking for a reference. Personally I do better imagining characters with an actual actor. Otherwise they’re just vague people-shaped images. 
> 
> Also also, I’m using the same names for the Tyler kids as I do in my Alons-y fanfic, but they’re unconnected. I just didn’t want to think of other names when I spent so long on the first set.

“What about you, Doc?” Graham asked after a while. “What will you do now?” 

“I dunno,” she said quietly. The tears had subsided now, but she sounded just as miserable. “I suppose Jack and I have a good bit of catching up to do. Maybe I’ll travel with him for a bit. Check in on some other old friends. I could visit River.” 

“Your wife?” Ryan asked. “Didn’t you say she was dead?” 

“She is.” 

Graham gave him a pointed look over Thirteen’s shoulder, one that clearly said not to push it. 

“You still got one mystery left,” Yaz added. “We never found out what the Timeless Child was about.” 

“That’s true,” Thirteen mused. “The Master may have meant it for Ruth, but the Remnants didn’t know that. Whatever it is must exist in both dimensions.” 

“Does Jack exist in this dimension?” Graham asked, trying to sound casual. Thirteen raised her head and looked at him critically. “I’m just saying, he seems like a nice bloke and it’s a shame he’s leaving when we only just met him…” 

“Alright, no more of this cryptic nonsense,” Ryan said. “What happened?” 

“Er…” Graham looked like he wanted to bolt. “He may have thought I was the Doc when I first met him…”

“He kissed you,” Thirteen nodded, trying to hide a smile. “Although to be fair, he does that to everyone.” 

“He didn’t kiss them,” Graham muttered. 

“Trust me,” she grinned. “If he does exist in this universe then he’s either in the far future leading a perfectly normal life, or he’s an immortal being who turns into a giant head. You deserve better.” 

Ryan and Yaz started to laugh, and Graham rolled his eyes. “Worth a shot,” he shrugged. 

“You’ll find someone,” Thirteen said fondly. “And they’ll be lucky, whoever they are. Whoever any of you find.” 

“Not as lucky as we are to have known you,” Yaz said. 

“We’re gonna miss you, Doc.” 

“I’ll miss you too, fam.” 

She pulled the three of them into a hug, trying to regain her composure. 

“Hate to interrupt,” Rose said, as the others joined them. “But we’ve got to get started before the Master comes back.” 

“Right,” Thirteen inhaled sharply as she got to her feet. “What do you have in mind?” 

She started messing around on the console, plugging in a fancy curved flashdrive to a port Thirteen didn’t even know existed. Then she pulled out a pair of old-fashioned 3-D glasses and tossed them to the Doctor with a grin. 

“Something fairly similar to what we did last time.”

“Void stuff!” Thirteen exclaimed, happily putting on the glasses. “Brilliant. You don’t seem to have picked any up this time.”

“Neither did you,” Ten pointed out. “Since the Void is practically nonexistent it doesn’t contaminate anyone who crosses through. Most of it is what the Kassavins are made of.” 

“How do we get the Kassavin back into the Void?” Ruth asked, peering through her own pair of 3-D glasses suspiciously. 

Donna stepped up and laid a silver cube on the console. “With this,” she explained. “When it’s turned on, it emits a very cold magnetic field that will attract the radioactive material of the Kassavin. Hopefully, it’ll be strong enough to suck them back into the Void and keep them there.” 

Thirteen picked up the device and examined it closely. “Tesseract design. Clever. Did you design this yourself?” 

“I had a little help,” Donna said shyly. 

Rose hugged her shoulders. “It was mostly her.” 

“Smart girl,” Thirteen said, smiling softly. 

“But if the Void is nonexistent, then how do we trap them there?” Yaz asked. 

“And how will we make sure the Kassavin are the only ones that go in, and not everything else magnetic?” Ryan added.

“Ah! Good,” Thirteen said. “Asking the right questions.” She looked at Rose expectantly. 

“This is where it gets tricky,” Rose admitted. “We’ll have to lure the Kassavin to certain points where the walls between the universes are especially thin. Then we’ll have to force the universes apart from both sides, creating a vacuum where we can throw the tesseract and trap them. The timing will have to be matched on all ends, and everyone will have only a few seconds to return to their proper dimensions before we seal it off for good.” 

“That’s impossible,” Ruth said. “We’d need to do that with more than just the two dimensions. You’d need a whole council full of Time Lords in order to pull it off.” 

“I am more than a bit confused...” Graham said.

“Welcome to life with the Doctor,” Jack shrugged. 

“Backstory,” Ten said. “The Void used to be monitored by the Time Lords. What we need are several dozen of them across multiple dimensions, with their TARDISes locked onto certain coordinates and literally pulling the universes away from each other, like tug-of-war.”

“Which is why this plan of yours, though brilliant,” Ruth conceded, “won’t work. We only have access to three dimensions and three TARDISes, assuming you have one as well. That won’t be enough space to create a new Void.” 

The console beeped and Rose turned to mess with the controls again. “We might be short on Time Lords,” she agreed. “Gallifrey burning or being locked in a time loop seems to be a common theme. Fortunately, there’s another factor we can count on in almost every universe.” 

A large holographic screen popped up behind her, with dozens of static squares buzzing hopefully. Then, images started appearing, stuttering to life in twos and threes as the video chats started connecting. 

“This is Doctor A-17, checking in.” 

“Doctor E-7, reporting.” 

“Connection looks good, this is Doctor D-12.” 

“L-2 here!” 

“A-23 but I can’t hear you...bother. Juno! Help me figure this out, would you?” 

“B-6, coming in live!” 

“This is T-46, present and accounted for!”

More and more kept checking in, voices overlapping as their number grew steadily. Some men, some women, some neither, a variety of different skin tones and races and all with fantastically outlandish clothes with a clear Doctor-esque fashion statement. Most had companions with them, though several were on their own.* 

Rose grinned proudly up at the hologram. “Sixty-four Doctors, with sixty-four TARDISes, in sixty-four different dimensions. You three make sixty-seven. D’you think that’ll be enough?” 

Ruth was staring open-mouthed at the screen, completely in shock. Thirteen laughed, actually properly laughed for the first time that day. 

“Rose Tyler, you brilliant, _brilliant _human, I have missed you!”__

__“There’s sixty-four of you?” Yaz asked._ _

__“In one form or another, yes,” Jack said. “I said we should try to find another two so we could get to sixty-nine, but we ran out of time.”_ _

__“You...you went to sixty-four different universes?” Ruth stuttered._ _

__“Seventy-two, technically,” Rose said nonchalantly. “Didn’t always find a Doctor running around though.”_ _

__Thirteen tore her gaze away from the screen and looked at her wide-eyed. “You said you only noticed the Void was gone a few months ago…”_ _

__“Yeeeeaaaah…” Rose said slowly. “Most of these guys I found years ago, when I was experimenting with Unit.”_ _

__“How many?”_ _

__“It doesn’t matter,” she shrugged, turning her attention back to the console and trying to help A-23 with his sound._ _

__“Rose…”_ _

__Ten grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. “Forty-seven,” he said quietly. “She went through forty-seven last time before she finally found us again.”_ _

__Thirteen turned and looked at him for a long moment. “So the last seventeen were all for this specifically? Only seventeen?”_ _

__Ten nodded gravely, keeping an eye on Rose. “You weren’t the only one who tried to cross over. The letters stand for the prototype model, and the number is which dimension hop actually got her in contact with them.”_ _

__Thirteen turned and watched Rose work on the console, suddenly feeling very emotional._ _

__"We won't have much time," Ten continued. "Say whatever you need to say to her."_ _

__“Oi!” Ryan said suddenly. “That version of you looks like Doctor Strange!”_ _

__The Doctor in question raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Where do you think they got the name from?” he asked._ _

__“No way…” Yaz breathed._ _

__“That’s L-3,” Donna explained. “He helped us find some more of the Doctors for us.”_ _

__“And accidentally inspired a comic book,” he sighed._ _

__“Right!” Rose said loudly. “Can you hear us now, A-23?”_ _

__“Ah! Yes! Loud and clear, thanks,” he said gratefully._ _

__“Loving the Wednesday Addams look you got going on,” Graham said to another one._ _

__“It’s not MY fault I was assassinated just after watching the movie,” she complained. “Now I’ll have to look like a child for the next few decades unless I regenerate again! Do you have any idea how hard that is? I’m 500 years old, not 10!”_ _

__“Ooh!” Thirteen cried, interrupting them. “Look, look! I’m ginger in that universe! I knew it! I knew I could be ginger, you lucky bastard!”_ _

__The ginger Doctor ran his hand through his hair self-consciously. “Took a few tries but I finally got there,” he laughed._ _

__“He looks sort of like Newt,” Jack said, grinning._ _

__“Oh yeah, from the Harry Potter films?” Graham asked._ _

__“What’s Harry Potter?” the ginger Doctor asked._ _

__There was a horrified gasp from everyone in their TARDIS and several of the other Doctors on screen._ _

__“You don’t have Harry Potter in your universe?” a female Doctor with a half-buzzed haircut asked in shock.**_ _

__“Ginger but no Harry Potter,” Ten lamented. “Not a fair trade if you ask me.”_ _

__“Oh, I take it back you poor soul,” Thirteen said sympathetically._ _

__“Alright, bring it back guys,” Rose said, shaking her head fondly. “We’re going to have to work together and work fast if this is going to work. We need to stay focused. Quick review: Everyone will need to meet at Torchwood in Cardiff exactly twelve Earth years and three months at exactly 8:00AM, after you first met me. For most of us, that will put us on March 1st, 2020, unless we’ve already established that your dates run a bit differently in your universe. Ground teams head out first and activate the beacon to bring in the Kassavin. If you followed the instructions we sent, they should work fine. If not, use the sonic and do your best.”_ _

__“Once you land,” Ten continued for her, “connect your TARDIS with the Rift Manipulator, then take off towards coordinates RA 14h 39m 37s | Dec -60° 50′ 2″. Do NOT take it past Mars. This should, in theory, pull the universes far enough apart to create the Void without completely destroying earth. As soon as we give the signal, return everything back to its original place, and everything should be good again.”_ _

__“We’ve still got one problem though,” Yaz interrupted over the chorus of agreeing Doctors. “The Master is still out there with the Lone Cyberman. I doubt they’ll just sit by quietly and let us do this.”_ _

__“She’s right,” Jack said. “We’ll have to trap him first.”_ _

__“How do you trap a Time Lord?” Ryan asked._ _

__Several answers cascaded from the screen, but Ruth hushed them all._ _

__“Easy,” she said. “I’ll make contact, get him to meet me somewhere. Some of you can use the EMP to take out the Cyberman, the rest of you can ambush him while I distract him.”_ _

__“What makes you think he’ll come to you?” Ten asked._ _

__“Because I used to be his wife,” she said simply._ _

__“You what?” Thirteen asked, making a face._ _

__“So I must be really terrible in that universe then,” said the companion of Ginger Doctor with alarmingly greasy black hair and high cheekbones.***_ _

__“Oh,” Thirteen said in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t realize there were any versions of the Master up there.”_ _

__“There’s a good dozen,” Donna said._ _

__“Glad to know we can be friends in some universes,” she sighed._ _

__“We’re MARRIED,” several of them said at once._ _

__“Yeah, that was another common theme we found,” Ten said._ _

__“Seriously?!? I just get all the bad luck then, apparently.”_ _

__“Alright, Doctors,” Rose said. “Stay online while we take care of this. Get everything ready. Prepare your ground teams. Be alert.” She muted the screen and turned to the others. “We’ll have to split up. Jack, take my Doctor and find the Cyberman. The rest of us will follow Ruth and form two teams to ambush the Master. Donna…” She turned to her daughter and took a deep breath. “I need you to stay here.”_ _

__“But I can help…” Donna protested._ _

__“I know. But if something goes wrong, someone needs to tell the other Doctors to proceed with the plan anyway. You still have your earpiece?”_ _

__“Yes,” she nodded worriedly._ _

__“We’ll stay connected then. If something happens, go to Torchwood, turn on the tesseract and throw it in the Void. Then go home, quickly. Don’t wait for us.”_ _

__Donna swallowed hard. “How do I know when to tell them?” she whispered._ _

__“I’ll try to let you know. But if I can’t, I trust you to make that call.”_ _

__Donna stepped forward and hugged her tightly, trying not to cry._ _

__“I’ll stay with her,” Ryan said suddenly._ _

__“We’ll need you out there,” Ruth said._ _

__“She’ll need me more if something goes wrong,” he countered. “She shouldn’t have to do this by herself.”_ _

__“Thank you,” Ten said quietly._ _

__“One more thing,” Jack added. “The Cyberman already shot me once, so they know I can’t die.”_ _

__“Damn,” Rose said under her breath. “Then you stay with us for the ambush. Yaz, you seem like you’re a good runner.”_ _

__“I am a police officer, it was in my training,” she said. “I don’t mind trying to bait a Cyberman.”_ _

__“Be careful,” Thirteen insisted._ _

__“No word of caution for me?” Jack teased._ _

__“You don’t need one ‘cause you’ll always come back,” she said, rolling her eyes._ _

__“Quick question,” Graham said. “How exactly do we ambush the Master?”_ _

__“Perception filters,” Rose said, fishing some keychains out of her pocket._ _

__“He knows how to look through them,” Ruth warned. “But if I’m distracting him it should give you enough time to get close enough. After that, we can bring him back here. I’ve got a few rooms that should hold him.”_ _

__“I would love to dive into that,” Jack sighed wistfully, “but we should probably get a move on. Everyone ready?”_ _

__Ten hugged Donna and kissed Rose goodbye._ _

__“Please come back,” Donna begged._ _

__“We’ll be fine,” Ten promised. “This is just a worst-case scenario. Probably won’t be needed.”_ _

__“Still,” Rose said. “Be careful. Both of you.”_ _

__“I’m always careful,” Ten said cheerfully._ _

__“Yeah, remember last time you said that?” Rose asked pointedly._ _

__“No, when was that?”_ _

__“Nine months before Alonso was born.”_ _

__“Er…”_ _

__“Mum!” Donna cried as Jack burst out laughing._ _

__“You have a kid named Alonso?!?” Thirteen exclaimed eagerly._ _

__“You better believe I do!” Ten said, ignoring Rose and giving Thirteen a triumphant high-five. “C’mon, Yaz. Alons-y!”_ _

__…_ _

__Ruth closed her eyes, focusing all her mental energy towards the Master._ _

__“Contact,” she whispered._ _

__“Contact,” his voice echoed across her mind. “Didn’t think you’d try this so soon after I caught you. Miss me?”_ _

__“I need answers,” Ruth said. “I don’t care where you are. I don’t care what you’re doing. I just need to know.”_ _

__“Know what, love?”_ _

__“DON’T call me that. You have no right.”_ _

__The Master shrugged, completely unbothered. “What do you want?”_ _

__“The Timeless Child,” Ruth said through gritted teeth. “What is it?”_ _

__“I told you to find out.”_ _

__“How am I supposed to do that when you BURNED our entire planet?” she spat._ _

__“You would have done it too had you known!” he yelled back._ _

__“Never.”_ _

__“I’d like to see. I’d like to see just what you do when you find out,” he said, laughing hysterically. “Oh, you’ll be angry. You’ll be so, so very angry.”_ _

__“I’m angry now. At YOU, for not just telling me what it is.”_ _

__“I can’t tell you,” he said, dropping the laugh and barely concealing his own fury. “The lies...the treason behind everything. Everything the Time Lords did was to cover it up.”_ _

__“Cover what up?” Ruth demanded. “If you can’t tell me, just show me!”_ _

__The Master in her head slammed a hand down on his wrist, activating his teleporter. The world around Ruth shimmered, and suddenly he was there, standing in front of her in the square. She should give the signal. She knew the others would need time to creep up on them. And she knew that if it went well, she could always make him tell her later. But there was something in his eyes, so much pain and hurt like she had never seen before._ _

__“Are you sure you want to see?” he asked. “You won’t be the same.”_ _

__“Show me,” she whispered._ _

__…_ _

__Donna tapped the edge of the console nervously, studying the sixty-four versions of the Doctors on screen. Most of them were talking with their companions or working on something with their sonic. One of them had fallen asleep._ _

__“Relax,” Ryan said. “There are three Doctors out there, the odds are actually really good.”_ _

__“Mathematically yes,” she said, not quite looking at him. “But empirically anything could happen. Toss a die six times, you won’t get every single number even though the odds are equally likely.”_ _

__“Worrying about it doesn’t increase the chances anymore than blowing on the dice,” Ryan countered. Donna turned to look at him then. “What? I took a class on probability in college. I know things.”_ _

__“Most people just forget about it when they’re done though,” she pointed out. “Do you like math?”_ _

__“I was good at it,” Ryan shrugged. “I was a mechanic, so I had to be pretty good at understanding the basics. It was interesting. I take it you’re one of those people who are really into it.”_ _

__She grinned sheepishly. “I like inventing things.”_ _

__“You invent the tesseract thing?” Ryan asked, pointing to the silver cube._ _

__“I came up with most of the design.” She picked it up and examined it closely. “The insides are what really intensify the magnetic field. I couldn’t quite get it up to full power myself, so that’s where dad came in and helped.”_ _

__“What’s it look like on the inside?”_ _

__Donna set the cube down. “D’you have a whiteboard?”_ _

__“Somewhere.”_ _

__Ryan ventured down one of the hallways. He knew he’d seen Thirteen use one the other day, but not exactly where it was stored._ _

__“Found it!” Donna yelled. “It was in the other hall.”_ _

__“Sorry,” he said, rejoining her. “You get lost in this place sometimes.”_ _

__“Tell me about it,” she grinned, starting her sketch. “When Alonso first started to crawl he accidentally wandered off and we didn’t know which way he went. Took us an hour to find him. Mum completely freaked out and didn’t bring him back in for months.”_ _

__Donna’s hand flew quickly across the board, clearly practiced at drawing the blueprint. She started at the center, drawing lines and cylinders and coils as she kept moving outward until the entire board had been filled. Ryan’s jaw dropped in awe._ _

__“That...is really impressive,” he said._ _

__“Just basic physics and chemistry,” Donna shrugged._ _

__“How do you get it to fit in there?” he asked, running his hands over the sharp corners of the tesseract._ _

__“That was where I was having design trouble,” she grinned. “You know who my dad is. Take a guess.”_ _

__“Oh, right. Time Lord tech. Bigger on the inside?”_ _

__“Big enough to fit what we needed, but small enough to handle easily,” she said proudly._ _

__“Genius,” Ryan said admiringly. The tesseract shimmered suddenly. “Um...is that supposed to happen?”_ _

__Donna snatched it from him quickly. “No!”_ _

__The glow grew brighter, almost painful to look at, and it flew to the side of the console, sticking tight. The TARDIS creaked around them, small bits of metal flying down the halls and massing onto the console. Donna quickly pulled out a sonic and started scanning it frantically._ _

__“What did I do?” Ryan asked in dismay._ _

__“Nothing! I don’t know what’s happening!”_ _

__Ryan looked up at the hologram, a flurry of activity catching his eye. “Unmute the videos,” he said urgently._ _

__The tesseract abruptly went dark as Donna managed to turn it back off. She pointed her sonic at the screen quickly, letting them hear the chaos of dozens of Doctors at once._ _

__“We’re under attack!”_ _

__“Where’s Rose?”_ _

__“It’s the Kassavin!!”_ _

__“How did they find us all at once?”_ _

__“Donna!” the Wednesday Doctor called, looking terrifying as usual. “You need to make the call. NOW.”_ _

__Donna turned to look at Ryan, covering her mouth in horror._ _

__..._ _

__Yaz crept stealthily behind Ten, who was using his sonic to focus in on the Cyberman’s readings. It was strangely quiet in the back alleys surrounding the market, even given the scare the residents had earlier._ _

__“When we find him,” Ten whispered as they turned a corner. “Get him to follow you. I’ll get behind him and fire the EMP.”_ _

__“Right,” Yaz agreed, scanning the surroundings warily._ _

__Something felt...off. Maybe it was just the stunning realization that her Doctor was from another universe and in a few hours they’d never see her again. Just a sick, sinking feeling of doom that the best part of her life was about to end. That was probably it. She was overthinking it._ _

__“Did you know…” she ventured, “before you got separated from Rose? Did the universe feel any different?”_ _

__“How do you mean?” he asked, frowning at the sonic as he made adjustments._ _

__Yaz bit her lip nervously. “Like you could feel the dimensions shifting around you…”_ _

__Ten stopped short, suddenly breathing very carefully, like one wrong move would trigger a trap. He and Yaz locked eyes._ _

__“No,” he said slowly. “Not before. But I do now…”_ _

__A Cyber-blast echoed around them, and Yaz ducked reflexively. Ten hit the sonic in frustration._ _

__“He’s got his own EMP now,” he growled. “Took out the sonic and probably our EMP blaster, too.”_ _

__Yaz felt the hair on the back of her neck go rigid, a shiver running down her spine as the world seemed to bend around them. Ten grabbed her hand and started pulling her away as Kassavin materialized around them._ _

__“RUN!”_ _

__..._ _

__“Gotta say, lovin’ the new regeneration,” Rose said admiringly. “How long’s it been?”_ _

__Thirteen and Rose were hidden in an alley near the market, behind crates of potatoes. Graham and Jack were somewhere on the other side, while Ruth waited in the open._ _

__Thirteen shrugged, trying her best to keep it casual. “At least a thousand. I’ve lost track honestly.”_ _

__“So you’re what, 2,000 years old now?”_ _

__“Something like that. I stopped counting awhile back. Got too depressing.”_ _

__“Surely not all of the thousand years was depressing?”_ _

__“No. I made a lot of good friends, traveled to a lot of interesting places. Got married. Twice actually. The first was by accident though. Thought Queen Elizabeth I was a zygon and tried to trap it. So that backfired.”_ _

__“What about the other one?” Rose asked, grinning. “They still around?”_ _

__“Sort of. Time Lord relationships can get complicated, especially when multiple time travelers are involved. We’re only married when both of us have experienced it within our own timelines. At this point, I’ve passed it but I could run into her before she’s reached that bit. I’ve also witnessed her death and uploaded her soul as a data file in the Library…”_ _

__“Right, yeah I heard that one. River Song, right?”_ _

__“Yeah, that makes it easier. I was trying to explain it to the Fam earlier but we were interrupted before I explained fully. Anyway, I can technically go visit her whenever I want, but we both know that I might fall in love with somebody else at some point. Doesn’t mean I don’t love River or I’m unfaithful to her. It’s just part of being a Time Lord. Over time you love lots of different people, and you never really fall out of love with them. There are some breakups but most of it is just...moving on to a different season in life. And hoping you don’t all get stuck in a room at once. Then it does get a bit messy.”_ _

__Rose leaned back against the wall, thoughtfully studying her. Thirteen refused to meet her eye, staring resolutely at the ground._ _

__“Can I ask you something?” Thirteen nodded carefully. “That day at the beach, last time you saw me. Why didn’t you say it?”_ _

__Thirteen sighed deeply. “Once the Metacrisis formed there were really only two options. He only had the one option of going back to Pete’s World. The question is where you were going to go. If you stayed here, with me, it would have ended at some point. I would have regenerated. You would have died of old age. It was better that you left with him. Not just for you, but for him and for me. But you were young, and had spent so long fighting to get back and we had just saved the world and there were too many emotions. If I had told you I...If I had said it, you wouldn’t have gone so easily.” She looked at her finally, with as much conviction as she could muster. “You needed to know he was still me. He was the one that needed to say it. Not me.”_ _

__“It did need saying though,” Rose said quietly._ _

__“No, I couldn’t…”_ _

__“Listen,” she said firmly. “You’re right. Back then, that’s what I needed to hear. But that was twelve years...no, hang on. That’s not right. TARDIS travels added some in between…” She started muttering under her breath, trying to keep track. “Donna’s 16, we think, so it’s been seventeen years. I know that doesn’t compare to a thousand, but I have grown up a bit. There’s nothing you can say now that would ever make me stay with you. I’ve got my kids, my husband, my brother and my parents back home. I’d never leave them.”_ _

__“Right. So it doesn’t matter, we both know the truth, so it doesn’t need saying.” She looked away again, wondering how much longer they had to wait._ _

__“I think it might,” Rose said slowly. “Not for me, but for you.” Thirteen froze. “I got to say it, but you never got a chance. I got my happy ending and came to terms with how everything played out. But you didn’t.”_ _

__“I was fine,” the Doctor lied._ _

__“How long until you started traveling with people again?” She didn’t answer. “I thought so. Look, I’m not gonna tell you what to do. I’m just letting you know it’s ok.”_ _

__Slowly, Thirteen turned to meet Rose’s gaze, lips parted softly as she tried to respond._ _

__“If you hadn’t come back when you did, and I didn’t have a Metacrisis, and this was the first time I got you back since Canary Wharf, I would whisk you away and never let you go again.”_ _

__“Even a thousand years later?”_ _

__“Try two thousand. Because you’re right.” She smiled shakily. “I loved you then, I love you now, and I always will.” Her eyes dropped to Rose’s smile. “Can I…?”_ _

__Rose closed the gap for them, pressing the softest of butterfly kisses against Thirteen, who melted into it eagerly._ _

__“I would have said yes,” Rose breathed when she pulled away._ _

__An anguished scream interrupted them. Instantly, they took off towards the market square, where Ruth was doubled over in pain. The Master stood before her, shaking with fury but not touching her. He looked up and locked eyes with Thirteen, despite the perception filter._ _

__“Don’t move!” Thirteen screamed._ _

__He started reaching for his teleport, but Rose was faster, and shot a disabling EMP. Jack and Graham emerged from their alley and rushed him from the other side. Scowling, the Master shot off in the opposite direction._ _

__“DOCTOR!” Yaz screamed as she and Ten ran in._ _

__Thirteen had barely looked over her shoulder when she saw the Kassavin start materializing around them. All three teams converged around Ruth, who was choking back sobs as she tried to defend herself._ _

__“Ok,” Thirteen said breathlessly. “So...not good. Anybody got a plan?”_ _

__“If they touch us we’ll get sent to the Void,” Jack said. “If it closes we’ll be stuck there forever.”_ _

__“I said a plan not a death forecast!”_ _

__“Mum!” Donna’s voice came crackling through Rose’s earpiece. “The Kassavin are attacking the other Doctors!”_ _

__“They’re not safe in the TARDIS,” Yaz said suddenly._ _

__“What do you mean they’re not safe in the TARDIS?” Ten asked._ _

__“I mean one almost came through on us one time! We had to take off to lose him.”_ _

__Rose pursed her lips and looked at Ten for a moment. The Kassavin were getting closer, closing off their only escapes as the Master’s laugh reverberated around them._ _

__“Donna,” Rose whispered. Ten slipped his hand in hers quietly. “Go. Now.”_ _

__Donna sobbed on the other end. "I love you, mum."_ _

__"I love you too."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, I'm not ending it here. It got kinda long so I added an extra chapter. Thank you for all your kind comments!!
> 
> *Fancast all your favorite Doctors if you want. Mine include Jameela Jamil in a fancy purple tophat because why the hell not.   
> **In my head, Kate McKinnon, even though she’s American.   
> ***Yes, it’s Tom Hiddleston. Even though he’d be better suited towards the Doctor in my opinion, I could only have so many references to actors in this scene!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two Easter eggs I forgot to mention for the last chapter. Kudos if you caught them! The 67 doctors represents the 67 years since the first episode of Doctor Who aired. And the coordinates Ten gave are the coordinates to Alpha Centauri, for those like me who are also obsessed with Good Omens (and David Tennant in general). Anyway, enjoy chapter 3! I stayed up late writing this so I could get it finished before the weekend and the finale so I have no clue what mistakes there may be. Half of this might turn up in italics for all I know. I’m going to bed. Goodnight, and enjoy!

“How do you fly this thing?!?” Ryan yelled.

The TARDIS doors shimmered as the Kassavin began attacking. Donna leapt into action, pulling a lever that launched them into the time vortex. 

“Everyone, go to Torchwood,” she called out to the other Doctors. “We have to move now, without the others.”

“Move quickly,” the Doctor Strange said. “Jumping through the time vortex will throw them off but it’s only a matter of time before they find us again.” 

Donna entered the coordinates and they took off. “Spin that blue wheel there,” she commanded. 

“How fast?” Ryan asked nervously. 

“Like you’re winding a clock!”

The wobbly flight evened out as he did so, much to his surprise. 

“Oh my god, I’m flying the TARDIS!” he exclaimed. 

“You haven’t done it before?” Donna grinned despite the danger. 

“I was too scared to ask,” he sighed. 

They landed at the plaza across from the Torchwood tower and stepped out to survey the area. Being a Sunday morning at 8:00AM, nobody was out save for a lone jogger who quickly passed by. 

“Is there anyone in the building we need to see?” Ryan asked, unsure what to do next. 

Donna shook her head. “Mum and dad sent out messages instructing everyone to leave. It’s too dangerous to have a lot of people there. You could get sucked into the Void accidentally, even without the Void-stuff magnetics. We’re creating a vacuum between worlds.” 

“So...how are we going to make sure the tesseract gets in without taking us with it?” 

“There should be some magna-clamps set up for us. And an X on the wall where it’ll open. We should go and check to make sure…” 

The grey morning brightened visibly as several Kasaavin appeared on the outskirts of the plaza. Donna and Ryan gasped and stepped back inside the TARDIS. 

“That was quicker than expected,” Donna squeaked.

“What do we do?” Ryan asked. 

She shook her head. “I...I don’t know. The Void’s not open yet…” 

She looked over her shoulder where the Doctors were hurriedly rushing around their TARDISes. Ryan closed the doors even though they both knew it was essentially useless. He braced himself against the crystal pillars, trying to think. Suddenly he stared at his hand as revelation hit. 

“I’ve just had a really, really crazy idea,” he said. 

“Crazy is good,” Donna said. 

“The Kasaavin are made of light, right?” 

“And radiation,” she added. 

“Yes, but rays. That’s the point. I don’t know a lot about radiation, but if they react the same way light does, what happens if they try to go through crystal? Or mirrors!?!” 

Donna’s eyes widened and she ducked underneath the console. “That could work!” she yelled excitedly. “And if I just fix the Chameleon Circuit…” 

After a buzzing noise and a few sparks, she scrambled back up to the computer and typed quickly. Ryan watched the door in apprehension but nothing changed. 

“That should do it,” Donna said, breathing a sigh of relief. 

“What did you do?” Ryan asked, looking confused. 

“I changed the exterior and added an extra hallway around the console room. It should hold them off long enough for the other Doctors to get the Void open.” 

“What does it look like on the outside now?” 

“A super creepy funhouse,” she smirked. “The disorienting hall of mirrors serves as our moat.” 

“I hated those things as a kid,” Ryan said. “What do we do when the Void opens? I don’t fancy trying to fight my way out and running into a Kasaavin.” 

“Those doors still lead straight out for us. Little Time Lord trick.” Her face sombered and she stared at the tesseract. “But as soon as we leave, they’ll know. Even without the field on they seem to be able to follow it easily.” 

“Which means no sneaking out and throwing them off our tail,” Ryan sighed. “Which I guess leaves us with…”

Donna looked up at him. “Running for our lives the second the Void is open.” 

Ryan exhaled slowly. “Right. Solid plan.”

…

“Rose, go home,” Jack said as the Kasaavin moved in closer.

“No,” Rose said, clearly trying not to panic. 

“You’re no good to Donna or your other kids here!” he yelled. 

Before she could respond, the Kasaavin stopped their approach abruptly, almost frozen in spot. 

“What are you doing?” the Master yelled. “Get them out of my way!” 

Instead, the Kasaavin started vibrating violently. Ten and Thirteen cocked their heads with raised eyebrows at it. 

“That’s interesting,” they both said in unison. Yaz and Graham stared at them wide-eyed. 

“What’s going on?” the Master growled. “What did you do to them?”

“Nothing,” Jack frowned. 

One by one they started disappearing, until none remained. Rose blinked. 

“They’re following the tesseract,” Ten realized. 

“They can’t travel in time,” Jack said. 

“They could if reality is falling apart,” Rose breathed. 

“Don’t just stand there, you idiot!” the Master screamed, absolutely livid at this point. “Shoot them!” 

The Lone Cyberman was still there, and he raised his arm to shoot. Rose rolled her eyes and set off the EMP without even looking at him. He screeched angrily, spitting curses in his former tongue as he raised his arms to the sky. 

“What is he doing?” Jack asked when nothing happened.

“Trying to summon lightning to recharge,” Yaz explained. “God, it’s like watching a three-year-old have a temper tantrum.”

“Sonic?” Ten asked, holding up a hand. Thirteen gave him hers automatically and he strode over to the frustrated Cyberman. “Alright you big baby, that’s enough of that.”

“Surrender,” he seethed. 

Ten gave him a sympathetic smile. “Trying so hard, aren’t you? Too bad it’s for the wrong thing. Timeout for you, then.” 

He pointed the sonic at him, and all movement halted abruptly. 

“What did you do?!? Unhand me!” 

“Ha!” Ten laughed. “Now you’re the Tin Man. Pity your vocal synthesizer wasn’t installed so I could mute you.” He sauntered back over to the group, ignoring the ranting cyberman. 

“What did you do?” Graham asked. “Just, you know, in case I need to use it in the future.”

“Paralyzed him. Cut off the wires that ran from  
The brain to the legs so his joints locked up. Gonna take a bit more than oil before he moves again. Nice screwdriver,” he added, returning Thirteen’s sonic.

“Thanks, made it myself.”

“Without a TARDIS?” 

“Yeah, she ran off on me and I was in a bit of a bind.” 

Ten turned to Rose smugly. “See! I knew it could be done without a TARDIS.”

“I believed you,” Rose sighed with all the tone of a worn-out argument. “I just didn’t want you to do it in MUM’S KITCHEN.” 

“Oh, she wouldn’t have minded,” he shrugged. 

“She would’ve slapped you again and you know it.” 

“Oi!” Yaz interrupted. “Where’d the Master go?” 

The market was empty save for them. 

“Slunk off, probably,” Graham sighed. “But without his army is he any threat?” 

“Not at the moment,” Thirteen said. She turned to Rose. “Jack was right. You should get back to your own dimension.” 

“We’re not leaving without Donna,” Ten said firmly. 

“Ryan will make sure she leaves before it gets too dangerous,” Thirteen said. “I’m sure she’s stubborn given her parents, but the other Doctors are on videochat and I’m sure they’ll tell her as well. Although granted, they might be a bit busy fighting off the Kasaavin and trying to save the universe. But Ryan. Ryan will tell her for sure.” 

“Reality is falling apart,” Rose argued. “If we can’t fix it, then all our calculations will be completely thrown off, meaning we may not even be able to get back to the right universe.” 

“Which is why you should go now,” Jack insisted. “Before things disintegrate even further.” 

“We knew the risk when we came,” Ten said, clenching his jaw. “Bad things happen when universes bleed into each other. They could blink out of existence while they’re in the next room and we’d never even _know _. We’d spend the rest of our lives regretting not trying everything we could to save them, right up to the last second.”__

__“It’s not like you can do anything at this point,” Jack said. “I only have one vortex manipulator and I doubt we could steal the Master’s TARDIS even if we knew where it was.”_ _

__Ruth stood abruptly and began marching away._ _

__“Whoah, hey,” Graham said, trying to calm her down. “Where are you going?”_ _

__“To my TARDIS,” she snapped. “Bring the Cyberman, I want to question him._ _

__Rose rushed after her without a second thought._ _

__“I thought Ginger and Ryan were in your TARDIS!” Jack exclaimed as he, Ten, and Yaz picked up the protesting Cyberman._ _

__“No, that was my TARDIS,” Thirteen explained. “We came separately.”_ _

__“That was yours?” Ten asked. “Really? It was so moody I thought it was hers.”_ _

__“Oi! My TARDIS isn’t moody!”_ _

__“It kinda is,” Yaz said. “Good moody. But still moody.”_ _

__“Yours was worse,” Thirteen sputtered, ignoring Yaz._ _

__“Every time,” Rose sighed. “Stop comparing, it gives me a headache.”_ _

__…_ _

__“I cannot believe that worked,” Donna half-laughed as she and Ryan watched the monitors._ _

__The Kasaavin were at an impasse, unable to maneuver through the reflective hallway. They hadn’t even made it to the crystalline wall that was their final defense._ _

__“Believe it or not, I actually do have some of the brains of our operation,” Ryan said smugly._ _

__“I didn’t doubt that,” Donna said. “Maybe you did, but I knew.”_ _

__“What?”_ _

__“Dad always traveled with people who thought they were ordinary. His companions always went on to do extraordinary things and save the world and all that, and they said it was because of him. But really it’s inside you all along. He just helps show you. Or she, in your case.”_ _

__“It’s not that he just didn’t travel with the dumb people?” Ryan asked._ _

__“There’s no such thing,” Donna said with conviction. “Just uneducated people who need a little help.”_ _

__“I dunno, I’ve met some people who need a lot of help,” he said._ _

__“But they’re still capable of it,” Donna said. “Even if we can’t give it to them.”_ _

__“Hmm,” Ryan mused._ _

__Donna checked the hologram, where the Doctors had set up a flashing light to show whether or not they were connected to the rift manipulators. Fifty-eight lights were green, leaving only six red._ _

__“G-5, T-17, B-13, L-23, A-23, and K-8, what’s your status?” Donna called._ _

__“Kasaavin are attacking our systems hard,” Juno, one of the companions explained while the Doctor was busy in the background. “The mirrors are helping like you said but they’re still interfering with our signals!”_ _

__“Same here,” the Doctor from G-5 confirmed. “Bit messy!”_ _

__“We have fifty-eight units ready to go,” the Ginger Doctor said. “If we activate the beacons…”_ _

__“It could draw away the Kasaavin from those still struggling!” Wednesday Doctor finished._ _

__“Are the beacons strong enough?” Ryan asked. “Even from another dimension where they have a more pressing priority?”_ _

__“It’s worth a shot,” said a female Doctor who Yaz had been certain was modeled from someone of Pakistani and Indian descent. In the effort of the last few minutes, she had taken off her purple and silver marbled top hat and tied her long hair back in a ponytail._ _

__“And if you can get the Void open with just the fifty-eight then you can throw the tesseract in,” the short-haired blonde from K-8 said. “As soon as they leave we’ll be able to jump in and help.”_ _

__Donna nodded. “Right. Let’s do it then. Activate the beacons.”_ _

__…_ _

__Ruth hardly said a word on the way to the TARDIS. She snapped open the doors and stormed inside, pointing down the hall as she moved to the console._ _

__“Put Rusty far enough down there where I can’t hear him yell,” she said._ _

__“We need to go to March 1st…” Rose began, trying to orient herself to the new controls._ _

__“No,” Ruth interrupted, lighting slapping her hands away._ _

__Rose looked at her like she was insane. “Donna and Ryan need our help,” she said. “They need more people to…”_ _

__“NO,” Ruth said, sending the TARDIS into flight._ _

__The engines wheezed as the TARDIS materialized, not even entering the time vortex. To everyone’s shock, the Master appeared, tripping to the floor disoriented. Ruth glowered down at him, a perfect storm in her eyes._ _

__“I did warn you,” he wheezed, out of breath from running. “I said you wouldn’t like it so you can’t be angry at me for that…”_ _

__“I’m not angry,” she said, her voice strangely calm as she stuck her hands in her pockets. “Why would I be angry? You kept a secret, one I had every right to know, and then you taunted me with it. You _toyed _with me, like it was one of your clever little games. You think that made me angry? No.” The Master swallowed hard, trying to crawl back. Ruth’s jawline hardened. “I’m downright furious.”___ _

____Like a snake striking its prey, she whipped her hand out of her pocket, holding a round disk. The Master’s eyes widened and he choked for a split second before he vanished. Ten and Thirteen cried out in alarm and stepped forward but it was too late._ _ _ _

____“You put him in a confession dial!” Ten exclaimed._ _ _ _

____“You didn’t tell us you had a confession dial!” Thirteen said, stunned._ _ _ _

____“I didn’t want to use it,” she said, glaring at it. “He left me no choice.”_ _ _ _

____“What did he show you?” Thirteen asked._ _ _ _

____Ruth shook her head, continuing to stare blankly. Thirteen stepped closer, reaching out her hands hesitantly._ _ _ _

____“Ruth…” she started._ _ _ _

____“Don’t you dare,” Ruth snapped, grabbing her wrist to stop her coming closer._ _ _ _

____“If it’s about the Timeless Child, that involves me, too,” Thirteen said seriously._ _ _ _

____“Not in the same way,” she cried. “Your past is different. You didn’t marry him. It could be something completely different.”_ _ _ _

____“In which case,” Ten said slowly, “would it hurt?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes,” she barked, turning her eyes on him. “You don’t deserve to see this pain.”_ _ _ _

____The TARDIS took off, Rose at the console. Ruth dropped Thirteen’s arm and turned her fury on Rose._ _ _ _

____“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “This is my TARDIS!”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah, and that’s my daughter in the future fighting for our very existences,” Rose shot back._ _ _ _

____Ruth bit back a retort. “Sorry,” she said, softening a bit. She opened a drawer on the console and carefully laid down the confession dial. “I’ll deal with him later.”_ _ _ _

____..._ _ _ _

____Donna stood hesitantly by the console computer, double-checking the code she’d written. The moment she pressed the button, Thirteen’s TARDIS would revert back to normal as soon within sixty seconds, allowing them easy access once on the outside._ _ _ _

____“Donna, we’ve gotta hurry, they’ll start attacking our TARDISes in a moment!” Doctor Strange yelled._ _ _ _

____She looked up at Ryan worriedly._ _ _ _

____“Hey, it’s alright,” he said, as comforting as he could manage. “We can make it to the building before they realize we’ve left.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay,” she whispered. “Get ready to run.”_ _ _ _

____She hit the button, and they bolted towards the door. They only made it fifteen feet across before skidding to a stop as they saw more Kasaavin standing guard around the edges of the plaza and blocking the tower. The Kasaavin immediately started moving toward them. Ryan reached for the tesseract._ _ _ _

____“Big X, magna-clamps, right?” he said._ _ _ _

____“What are you…?”_ _ _ _

____“Time’s up. Go home, now.”_ _ _ _

____Donna looked over her shoulder, still holding tightly to her invention. “But mum and dad…”_ _ _ _

____“I promised them I’d get you home safe,” Ryan insisted. “The Void is opening, go before it’s too late!”_ _ _ _

____Trembling, Donna reluctantly handed over the tesseract. She reached in her pocket for her dimension-hopper. As she checked the calculations, the sounds of the TARDIS filled the air. Ryan looked back at the Funhouse in alarm._ _ _ _

____…_ _ _ _

____“I’ll need an extra pair of hands to stay on board the TARDIS when we get there,” Ruth said. She looked at Graham and Yaz. “Any volunteers?”_ _ _ _

____“I know absolutely nothing about what to do but I will stay as needed,” Graham said._ _ _ _

____“Works for me.”_ _ _ _

____Rose has plugged another alternate-USB into the console, making contact with the Doctor Strange._ _ _ _

____“The Kasaavin are already surrounding the tesseract,” she said. “It will be chaos when we get there.”_ _ _ _

____“What if we used some sort of decoy,” Yaz suggested. “Do you have extra beacons?”_ _ _ _

____“Smart thinking, Yaz!” Ten applauded. He pulled out several triangles from his coat, obviously with bigger-on-the-inside pockets. “These should do the trick.”_ _ _ _

____“Conflicting signals should confuse them enough for us to get the real tesseract inside,” Thirteen said. “But we’ll have to keep them moving to get the maximum effect.”_ _ _ _

____“Everyone ready?” Ruth asked, hand poised to take the TARDIS into landing._ _ _ _

____Graham pulled Thirteen into a quick hug. “Thanks Doc,” he whispered. “For everything.”_ _ _ _

____Thirteen squeezed him tight for half a second before the TARDIS landed. She forced herself to let go, thinking only about saving the universe, not saying goodbye. Rose charged out first, heading straight towards a distraught Donna and a worried Ryan._ _ _ _

____“Donna!” Rose yelled. “Get home, we’re right behind you!”_ _ _ _

____Donna grinned and disappeared in a flash. Thirteen ran up to Ryan and traded the tesseract for a triangle about the same size._ _ _ _

____“Run the opposite direction and don’t go into Torchwood yet,” she said with a forced smile. “Nice knowing ya.”_ _ _ _

____Ryan took off without further questions, quickly catching onto the plan. Thirteen ran towards the outskirts of the plaza, then doubled-back to avoid a Kasaavin. Yaz ran up beside her and they swapped quickly. She came to an abrupt halt in front of Yaz and pressed their foreheads together for half a second._ _ _ _

____“Go save the world,” she whispered._ _ _ _

____Yaz nodded heavily and they split directions. Thirteen swallowed hard and found herself running back towards the TARDIS. She didn’t like that so she switched again, watching as Yaz passed the Tesseract to Ten and Rose, who were holding onto each other with a death grip. Jack stole it from them only a few seconds later as he passed._ _ _ _

____“Good to see you again, Rose,” he yelled as a Kasaavin chased him._ _ _ _

____“You too,” she called over her shoulder._ _ _ _

____Ryan passed Thirteen again. “I’m doing figure-eights, is that the plan?”_ _ _ _

____“Close enough!” she said encouragingly._ _ _ _

____Jack surprised her out of nowhere. “Get ready,” he said quietly._ _ _ _

____She was holding the tesseract before she even realized the beacon had left her hands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rose raise a hand to her earpiece._ _ _ _

____“Now!” Rose shouted._ _ _ _

____Thirteen locked eyes with Yaz as they ran towards each other. Yaz nodded, reaching for her as they got close. With one arm they clasped hands and spun, sending Yaz directly towards the Torchwood tower. With the other, they swapped tesseract and beacon. Yaz made a beeline for the doors, Ryan close on her heels._ _ _ _

____“Get her out of here,” Rose yelled to Jack._ _ _ _

____“No!” Thirteen cried as Jack grabbed her arm._ _ _ _

____His momentum pulled her along before she could get a good fighting stance. Rose shot her an apologetic look as Ten meddled with the dimension-hopper. They disappeared as a Kasaavin came within inches of them._ _ _ _

____“We can’t just leave Ryan and Yaz!” Thirteen screamed, getting better resistance now._ _ _ _

____Jack wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders and back and kept pushing. “They have Ruth, they’ll be fine.”_ _ _ _

____“You don’t KNOW that!” she yelled. “Just another minute, we’ll leave in a minute!”_ _ _ _

____The Kasaavin turned and started flooding the building, ignoring their beacons completely._ _ _ _

____“We can’t help them now,” Jack said through gritted teeth._ _ _ _

____…_ _ _ _

____“Split up!” Ryan said, taking the stairs to the right._ _ _ _

____“I don’t even know where I’m going!” Yaz protested._ _ _ _

____“Second hall on the right, third door on the left, there’s a big X on the wall,” Ryan called as he disappeared. “Don’t forget your grab the clamp!” he added, voice echoing._ _ _ _

____Yaz ran as fast as she could, feeling the Kasaavin following her without needing to see them. She found the Void room easily, the massive energy almost pulling her there. Unexpectedly, the wall was still there, not the giant white vacuum of certain death that had been described to her. The Kasaavin burst through the door before she could think. They quickly cornered her, but made no move to touch her._ _ _ _

____“Hand it over,” the leader, she assumed, commanded._ _ _ _

____“Do you even know what it is or what it’s for?” she asked with fake confidence, stalling for time._ _ _ _

____“It is dangerous,” the leader said hesitantly._ _ _ _

____“Very,” she agreed. “Do you know what it will do if you touch it? Because you may not want to do that.”_ _ _ _

____“It will cause no harm,” the leader said, reaching out a hand._ _ _ _

____Apparently, there was enough of a magnetic field to rip the metal from under Yaz’s jacket. The leader observed the triangle closely._ _ _ _

____“Oi!” Ryan called. He stood on a loft in the corner, overlooking the main room. “I think you’re actually looking for this one.”_ _ _ _

____He ran his fingers along the edges the way Donna had shown him and it glimmered to life. The wall behind Yaz opened, and she clung to the clamp for dear life. Ryan pitched the tesseract into the Void with as much strength as he could muster, and the Kasaavin, shrieking, were pulled in after it._ _ _ _

____…_ _ _ _

____Thirteen managed to break free from Jack and raced to the doors. Jack was faster, taking off in the TARDIS before she could open them. The auto-lock engaged, and she rattled the door uselessly._ _ _ _

____“Kasaavin are gone!” one of the Doctors cheered from the video screen._ _ _ _

____“It worked, it worked!”_ _ _ _

____“Everyone back in the right universe?”_ _ _ _

____“Let’s seal her up!”_ _ _ _

____“Prepare to disengage the rift manipulator…”_ _ _ _

____The TARDIS groaned and jolted as Jack flew them home through the Void. It shuddered into stillness as they landed. Thirteen stared blankly at the door, not even looking at Jack._ _ _ _

____“Three...two...one...release!”_ _ _ _

____“Confirm release by switching lights back to red.”_ _ _ _

____“Well done, Doctors!”_ _ _ _

____“We are a brilliant team, aren’t we?”_ _ _ _

____“Hoorah!”_ _ _ _

____“Nice to know I have my own back.”_ _ _ _

____“I think we all deserve a good cupola after that.”_ _ _ _

____“And a nap.”_ _ _ _

____“Reality saved. Just another day in the life.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m off lads, don’t hesitate to call if there’s more trouble in the future.”_ _ _ _

____“Is there a way to email on this thing?”_ _ _ _

____“Not enough to talk to yourself in your head?”_ _ _ _

____“If you find a way, send Ginger a copy of Harry Potter!”_ _ _ _

____“Now that is a worthy cause, I agree.”_ _ _ _

____“Good luck on your regeneration, Wednesday.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m never gonna live this down.”_ _ _ _

____“A-23, over and—“_ _ _ _

____“K-8, signing off.”_ _ _ _

____“Bye everyone!”_ _ _ _

____Gradually, the voices faded as they all ended the call. Only one square remained. It was static at first, alone and ignored in the corner as it had been all day. Jack eyed it curiously. A moment later, it flickered to life, showing Rose in her TARDIS. Solemnly, Rose looked past him at Thirteen, who hadn’t moved. Jack followed her gaze, then nodded silently. Rose reached to turn off the chat, but not before Jack saw the TARDIS door opening behind her. Donna and her two siblings rushed forward, excited and relieved. Rose burst into a smile as she gathered them into her arms. The screen went dark, and Jack turned off the hologram. Quietly, he walked over to Thirteen, breathing shallowly and staring at nothing._ _ _ _

____“Doctor,” he said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder._ _ _ _

____A shuddering breath escaped her, and she broke. Jack gathered her in his arms as the sobs racked her body and screamed against the injustice of it all._ _ _ _

____..._ _ _ _

____The plaza was eerily quiet, as if the battle to stop all of reality from collapsing on itself hadn’t just taken place. Even the pigeons had already come back, searching the abandoned area for scraps. Ryan and Yaz stood in the door of Torchwood Towers, not quite sure what to do._ _ _ _

____“It’s quiet,” Ryan said awkwardly._ _ _ _

____“Yeah,” Yaz agreed._ _ _ _

____They both stared at where the TARDIS had been only moments ago._ _ _ _

____“Where’s Graham?” Ryan asked, frowning._ _ _ _

____“Helping Ruth.”_ _ _ _

____“Oh.”_ _ _ _

____“They’ll be back in a sec.”_ _ _ _

____“Right.”_ _ _ _

____As if on cue, the familiar whoosh of the TARDIS sounded, and the police box landed next to them. For a second, they stared at it hopefully, only a little disappointed when Ruth stepped out instead of Thirteen. Graham followed behind her, hugging them both gratefully._ _ _ _

____“Well, we all made it alive,” he said with forcing cheerfulness._ _ _ _

____“That’s the important thing,” Ryan sighed._ _ _ _

____Ruth stared at the ground. “Could’ve been worse,” she said quietly._ _ _ _

____Yaz turned back to her. “You can stick around a bit, if you like. Have breakfast with us before we go our separate ways.”_ _ _ _

____“Not hungry,” she sighed. She handed them a business card from a sweet shop with a number scrawled on the back. “If you’re ever in any trouble though feel free to call. Direct TARDIS line. Sweet shop isn’t half bad either. Good custard.”_ _ _ _

____Graham took it gratefully. “Will you be alright?” he asked._ _ _ _

____She shrugged. “Probably. See you around.”_ _ _ _

____She started back inside the TARDIS._ _ _ _

____“Ruth,” Graham called. “Er...Doctor. Whatever the Master showed you, you didn’t deserve to see such pain either. And there’s no shame in finding someone to talk to.”_ _ _ _

____Ruth studied him for a moment, softening a little. “Thank you,” she said finally._ _ _ _

____The three of them watched her TARDIS fade away, leaving them once again in the quiet Sunday morning._ _ _ _

____“Now what?” Ryan asked after a few seconds._ _ _ _

____“Breakfast,” Graham decided. “I’m starving. Let’s look around, see what we can find.”_ _ _ _

____“We’re in Cardiff,” Yaz realized. “No way back.”_ _ _ _

____“Oh, the bus is only two hours to London,” Graham said. “I think I’ve got enough on me for the three of us.”_ _ _ _

____“Are you sure?” Yaz asked._ _ _ _

____Graham threw in arm over each of them fondly as he pushed them to start walking. “Anything for my fam,” he said._ _ _ _

____Yaz smiled softly. “Are we still gonna call ourselves that then?”_ _ _ _

____“Of course. That part hasn’t changed. Just the traveling in time and aliens bit.”_ _ _ _

____“And the Doctor,” Ryan added sullenly._ _ _ _

____“And the Doc,” Graham said, more somber than before._ _ _ _

____Yaz could tell he was trying. They walked in silence for a bit, keeping their eyes open for a good cafe._ _ _ _

____“Yaz?” Ryan asked after a minute. “Do you have an extra spot open on your couch for that movie ice cream marathon?”_ _ _ _

____“Of course,” she said kindly._ _ _ _

____“How about two?” Graham said thickly._ _ _ _

____Yaz nodded, blinking back tears. “Anything for my fam.”_ _ _ _

____…_ _ _ _

_____Location: Martha Jones  
London, England  
Age: 36  
Married to Mickey Smith  
Occupation: freelancer.   
Currently at: Barcelona, Spain.   
Evidence of Slitheen in area. _ _ _ _ _

_____Location: Donna Noble  
Chiswick, England  
Age: 43  
Married to Shaun Temple  
Occupation: receptionist _ _ _ _ _

_____Location: Yasmin Khan  
London, England  
Age: 21   
Occupation: Scotland Yard_ _ _ _ _

_____Location: Graham O’Brian  
Sheffield, England  
Age: 54  
Married to Grace Sinclair, age 53.  
Occupation: Retired bus driver _ _ _ _ _

_____Location: Ryan Sinclair  
Sheffield, England  
Age: 21  
Occupation: Greg’s Mechanics. ____ _ _ _

______The same, but different. Yaz in this dimension had worked her way into Scotland Yard. Ryan found a job at a local mechanic shop working on cars. His mother was still alive. So was Grace. Martha and Donna were fine, nothing had changed there. So the Doctor was in the right universe. Not that she had doubted Rose and Jack. But she checked anyway._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sometimes twice a day._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You should really find a hobby,” Jack said, interrupting her now daily routine. “I usually find baking relaxes me. Knitting is another good option.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes, I’m sure that’s your go-to relaxation technique,” the Doctor said flatly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“C’mon Doc…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Doctor.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Jack nodded. “Sorry. Doctor. I was just trying to cheer you up.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Some things can’t be cheered up,” she deadpanned._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No,” Jack agreed. “And as much as I love to help, I don’t think I'm the right person for that am I?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Nobody can help,” Thirteen snapped. “What can they do? There’s nothing to be done!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I think you’re forgetting about someone,” Jack shrugged, piloting the TARDIS._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Who?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______…_ _ _ _ _ _

______There were footsteps in the Library. Not that this was unusual now that the Lux’s brought the exterminators out to get rid of the Vashta Nerada. There were always interesting people wandering about now, plenty of people to talk to. But not now. Not at night, when everyone had gone home for the day or were on the day side of the planet. Naturally, this could only mean one thing. The footsteps were quiet, and they stopped just behind her._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hello, sweetie. I was wondering when you’d turn up for a visit” River smiled, returning the book to its proper place on the shelf. She turned, breath catching in surprise when she saw the Doctor. “You’ve regenerated! It looks lovely, dear, I adore it. Although I must say, I am a bit jealous I didn’t get to meet this body before I died…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______River stopped, suddenly recognizing the melancholy across the Doctor’s face. She sighed understandingly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You’ve lost someone haven’t you?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The Doctor nodded tearfully. River sat down on the couch, which her hologram self told her was quite comfortable. She patted the space beside her warmly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Sit,” she said gently. “I’ll have a librarian bring you some tea.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Thirteen curled up on the couch, her head as close to River’s lap as she could without ruining the illusion. The tears flowed freely as River ran her hands over hair soothingly._ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIN! 
> 
> I am planning on doing a sequel (a Christmas special if you will) with River and Thirteen that dives deeper into the Timeless Child arc, since I didn’t have time to look at all the plot points from this season. When will I write this? I have no idea. I need to catch up on homework since I procrastinated all week by writing this. 
> 
> Also, you are welcome for keeping Yaz alive. I am like 75-80% sure they are going to kill her off in the finale based on the foreshadowing from Spyfall. My notes for Yaz in this final chapter were: “Yaz can almost die BUT DOES NOT BECAUSE I CANT HANDLE MORE EMOTIONS.” True story. 
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading, kudos, comments, fic recs and fanart are always welcome, and you can follow me on tumblr @julia-skysong-fanficauthor for more Doctor Who and Good Omens content, as well as updates about my upcoming fics! Come say hi! (Pls, I’m lonely)


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